In November 2021, Staples Center officially changed its name to the Crypto.com Arena. Despite this very public shift and visual confirmation through a series of aerial videos, I still call it Staples. It’s what I know. It’s familiar. It’s recognizable. And its name doesn’t also symbolize a brand new process.
But perhaps, as demonstrated by Adobe and the future of media, I need to embrace the change. Perhaps I need to jump into the tide.
After an epic late-night cheering on the Los Angeles Dodgers, Adobe MAX jumped right into the sea and into the deep end of AI. Today’s keynote address started with Firefly, and dropped mild hints of what was to come. During his opening address, Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, gave a gentle nudge of features coming to their products, something that could aid, perhaps, in “adding or removing objects in a single step.” Hint hint nudge nudge.
Among the morning releases from today, Tuesday, October 28th are the following, along with their current availability and access.
- AI Object Mask in Premiere: Capturing objects in Premiere is here! In the public beta, you can isolate objects and people natively in Premiere without moving to After Effects. Available in the Beta version of Premiere.
- Generate Soundtrack: Shown during the morning’s keynote, Generate Soundtrack creates a track for a video source. Upload a video and hear what Adobe Firefly thinks might go along with it. I’ll be testing this with photos and video from MAX to MAXIFY my MAX soundtrack at MAX volume. Currently in public beta – you can use this now!
- Firefly AI Video Editor: Using a timeline-based editor with Firefly AI, editors can create their own transitions through prompts (as seen through the keynote) and edit alongside Firefly. Currently in private beta, which means you need to sign up through a waitlist.
- Generative Upscale in Photoshop: Using Topaz Labs, you can now upres photos in Photoshop. This is available now in the shipping version of Photoshop.
- AI Assistant in Adobe Express: Ever want to change something in a social media graphic by typing a prompt? Agentic AI coming to Express…or at least you can hop on the waitlist for it!
- AI Assistant in Adobe Photoshop: Ever want to change something in Photoshop by typing in a prompt? Agentic AI is coming, and the keynote highlighted the ability to decrease brightness and rename layers through a prompt. Only available through a private invite.
- New AI Model Integrations: ElevenLabs, one of the leading services to create AI voices, Topaz Labs, and Google models are now available through Firefly.
- New Adobe Firefly Image Model 5: A brand new image model has been released, which includes the ability to remove objects in created imagery through follow-up prompts.
- AI Assisted Culling in Lightroom: Calling all wedding photographers, After Shoot users, and concert photographers: AI Assisted Culling allows you to quickly identify suitable photos through AI. Now in Public Beta.
The opening keynote started and ended with Firefly. For example, one of the highlights in Firefly, Generate Soundtrack, was embedded into the Premiere display. We are all in the water, and we are invited to “have fun” as so many keynote speakers reminded us, and to make a splash.
And what if we’re feeling a little bit of sand? Or if the sun burns a little too hot? Well, maybe things continue to change: Crypto.com owns the arena name for 20 years in total. So let’s see what the name is, what the game is, what AI is doing, and what the industry is in 2041. Maybe we’ll be on another wave.
Full Adobe release notes from Adobe MAX are available here. And of course, we’ll continue to report from Adobe MAX 2025!